[1] The American International School of Zurich (AISZ) was founded in 1963 in a Swiss villa (built in 1914) in Kilchberg.

The English Language Kindergarten (ELK), later renamed the International Primary School of Zurich (IPSZ), opened in 1970 in Horgen and in 1979 moved to the current Early Childhood Center.

This villa, which was built in 1906 on the shore of Lake Zurich in Kilchberg, was attended by children aged three to four until June 2019.

In July 2019, the Early Childhood Center was moved to the Lower School and now children from the age of three to 11 attend the campus.

[7] In August 2021, ZIS launched a bilingual program based on the curriculum of the Canton of Zurich Lehrplan 21[8] and approved by it.

Students in Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 9 are required to learn German,[18] unless they are in the English as an Additional Language (EAL) program.

There are choirs at the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools and regular concerts and recitals through the year for students of all ages.

In Middle and Upper Schools, students can take drama as a class and can also participate in the twice-yearly productions, such as ‘Grease’ and ‘Les Miserables’.